Dd is going off, with the world's worst cold, for yet another acting audition on Wednesday. Thankfully, she already has a place (on her 3rd year of trying), but this is the one she really, really wants.

The one thing to be said about it is that you develop an increasingly thicker skin on their behalf.

My DD is- MT fanatic!She has so far been turned down for GSA but their first round is only singing (and they audition 2000 for only 36 places of which half are for girls!) so she wasn't really expecting much there.

She has been recalled for Mountview after a whole day of auditions a few weeks ago- they auditioned 80 on her day and only recalled 5 so she is a bit pleased! Recall is in April and think there are two further rounds to get through.

She went to the London regional audition for the Scotland conservatoire last week and was recalled to the afternoon session (they cut out 2/3 at lunchtime after the first round) and is now waiting to hear if she has got into the final round.

She has two more auditions at Arts Ed and Trinity Laban in a few weeks.

She has been informed that not many people get in on the first year they apply so the fact that she has even been recalled for two of them has hugely boosted her confidence.

At both Mountview and SC she was up against students who have been in full time vocational training. She is at a grammar school and although does music and drama a level (and psycology) most of her MT training has had to be been extra curriculular so she has done well to get this far.

If she doesn't get in anywhere this year she will get a job next year and do more training and then try again next year.

Good luck to all the DCs going through auditions! It's a stressful process.

She's holding a UC for MT at Wolverhampton with auditions for Central, Guildford and Wales still to come ...Is it true that they rarely get in first year of trying then ? DD's grades and references are impeccable-It's so brutal ..

Twunting, don't know about MT, but certainly it's common to have to apply for two or three years running for acting. They are looking for maturity and personality as much as anything else and not every 18yo has those. After one of dd's first auditions (think it may have been Central) she and a group of other non-recalls were told quite straight that they were too young ,and to come back another year.

It's a tough profession; you live on having to sell yourself again and again and being rejected not because you did anything wrong but because the producer had a different facial shape in mind or a different colouring. Or because there were 20 tall brunettes applying for the same part and they only needed one.

Thanks cory- you are soRight about having a face that fits their "cast" for that year's particular cohort.

DD even more pleased today as found out she got a third recall for the Scotland conservatoire! Unfortunately it is on the Day before two other audition days meaning she has three consecutive days of auditions the firstOf which we have to fly toScotland for😮

If you don't get in to one of the better conservatoires which offer degrees, then it's much better to do a straightforward degree (say, Drama, or Theatre Studies) in a very good Department (not W'hampton) but say, Birmingham or Royal Holloway or Manchester or Queen Mary or Exeter or Glasgow - and re-audition when you're a bit older & have some experience.

Or do a 1 year Masters in MT at Central School of Speech and Drama, after a standard UG degree in Drama.

This is our 3rd consecutive year of going through the audition process. DS gained an acting ba place on his second year of trying and DD started down the same route this year. After 2 auditions she has so far had one rejection and one recall with two first round auditions to go.It doesn't get any easier.....

Well, it's not hugely well-resourced, its staff don't figure in the industry, and it's unlikely she'll be "seen" by the industry at the end of the degree. If you look at the 'industry experience' of the staff listed under the Musical Theatre section of the School of Performing Arts, you'll see they've done amdram in Birmingham & Dudley. Not inspiring, I'm afraid.

Three Cs at A level is the entry requirement.

If your DD has any hope of achieving ABB, she should look at any of the top 10 drama/theatre departments. Birmingham (if she wants to be in the Midlands), Manchester, Leeds etc etc. And then do MT as an extra-curricular, as well as dance & singing lessons.

I'm afraid the really tough thing to say - and I know it sounds harsh - is that if you're not accepted for Central, Mountview, E15, LAMDA, RADA, Guildhall, Welsh Conservatoire, Royal Scottish Conservatoire, Bristtol Old Vic, etc - those really well-connected training institutions which have turned out skilled performers for years - well, you know if you're not accepted, you may just not be good enough to make it in the industry ... And not all the graduates of any of those expert institutions are successful at earning a living after 5 years.

I watch the industry from the sidelines (via the careers of several close family members) and I see what extraordinary talent you need to survive.

Virgil is right. Terribly harsh but my DC's contemporaries are finishing conservatoire now and even some really good performers are realising they are going to have to do something totally unrelated to their degrees. Lovely thing to do/follow heart etc but be aware of how things may be three or four years down the line ...

I'm afraid Virgil is right too. My dd is 19, this is her 3rd year of auditions for MT. 1st year, she only tried for a few of the big names, as really wanted/needed a gap year. Last year same schools again (GSA, ArtsEd, Central, Mountview plus LCM). She was offered the BA at LCM (unconditional as she had A level results). Recalls at all the others but no BA offers. She was offered and chose to accept the Foundation at ArtsEd. I think this was the right choice, she has really been pushed, especially in dance ( her weakest discipline). She has also had to question her commitment to MT as a career choice.Auditions start again soon and we will have to wait and see what happens.She loves what she does but is realistic about it providing a long term lucrative career!!!